Week Eleven In Review

By: Matt Harmon

Thursday Night Game:

Indianapolis Colts- 30 at Tennessee Titans- 27
Reviewing the Game:

• Through all the criticism of and questions about this team, everyone pretty much agreed that Andrew Luck was the x-factor and always has the potential to raise his team’s level of play. That is exactly what happened last night. The Titans went into the half with 17-6 lead and looked to have the Colts offense overwhelmed with their defense, and the ability to control the game on the ground with Chris Johnson already having popped in two touchdowns. Luck had other plans. Not that he was particularly dynamic in the second half, but the young quarterback was just able to string together several long sustaining drives with short and intermediate passes and timely scrambles. Luck was also heavily assisted by Donald Brown who finally gave the Colts a consistent rushing attack for the first time all season, while still looking way better than Trent Richardson. The Titans offense did its part, especially the emerging Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker, and the defense was able to attack the Colts offense as expected, but Luck just took the game over in the second half. This game serves as a reminder of why the quarterback position is the most important in sports. No matter what the matchups dictate or the circumstances say, if you have a quarterback like Luck, you always have a puncher’s chance to win. 
  

Matchup to Watch: T.Y. Hilton vs. Alterraun Verner and Jason McCourty

• This matchup went almost exactly to script. McCourty and particularly Verner took care of T.Y. Hilton and limited him to only five catches for 44 yards; a far cry from the numbers he was racking up. The Titans provided the rest of a great league with a blue print of how to shut out Hilton, but they did not exactly finish the job defensively. The Colts and Andrew Luck learned quickly that Hilton was not going to be much of a factor, and Luck decided to lean on another young player. Coby Fleener must have been reading this website for motivation as he played his best game as a pro. He obviously was great as a split from the formation pass catcher for his former college teammate, but he was also surprisingly efficient as a run blocker, and helped spring Donald Brown on a number of his second half runs. Great game by Fleener, lets hope he keeps it up. 

Sunday Games:

New York Jets- 14 at Buffalo Bills- 34
Reviewing the Game:

• We should all just stop picking the Jets if they are on the road. Geno Smith had another implosion away from Met Life Stadium, but the story of this game may have been how E.J. Manuel against Rex Ryan’s defense, and in poor weather conditions to boot. Manuel look poised and comfortable in the face of a ferocious front seven, and got fellow rookie Marquise Goodwin heavily involved. Jarius Byrd was the best player on the field, and bated Geno Smith into several mistakes. The Jets have to be disturbed with how their inconsistency is so consistently present.

Matchup to Watch: Santonio Holmes vs. Stephon Gilmore

• With the Jets quarterback floundering, Holmes never really had much of a chance to shine and only had two catches on the day. Holmes did take his two catches for 71 yards however, so he just may yet have some big play ability left in him.  
  

Baltimore Ravens- 20 at Chicago Bears- 23
Reviewing the Game:                                

• This game took over five hours to complete with the massive weather delay in the first half. The field was sloppy and neither offense sustained much consistent success. The Ravens overcame some pretty bad play by Joe Flacco to take this game into overtime, but the Ravens offense predictably could not move the ball in the extra quarter. Josh McCown was pretty efficient despite the sloppy conditions and led his team down the field for the game winning field goal. Whispers are getting louder in Chicago for McCown to retain this job. 

Matchup to Watch: Ravens running backs vs. Bears front seven

• Which weakness would be worse? Well, Ray Rice’s 131 yards answered that question. Rice still looked pretty slow, even on his 47 yard run in the first quarter. The Ravens rediscovered their running game far too late, because with this loss, they are all but finished. 
  

Cleveland Browns- 20 at Cincinnati Bengals- 41
Reviewing the Game:

• The Browns put up a fight in this game, but several special teams gaffes and turnover in the second quarter put this game out of reach very quickly. The Bengals get a win they should have, but man they cannot feel too comfortable with how it went down. Outside of Giovanni “Brian Westbrook” Bernard, not much was consistently working with their offense. The Bengals always feel like they’d be much better if they had a consistent quarterback.  

Matchup to Watch: Marvin Jones vs. Buster Skrine

• Marvin Jones failed to step up and only contributed one catch for nine yards. As mentioned, the Bengals were lucky to get fourteen points, and a few short fields, from their defense and special teams.
  

Washington Redskins- 16 at Philadelphia Eagles- 24
Reviewing the Game:

• The Redskins tried their best to make the final score interesting, but lets be honest; they got worked in this game. Philadelphia was clearly the best team on the field and held a 24-0 lead for a majority of this game. Nick Foles was once again masterful running the offense, and was helped along by the Redskins defensive ineptitude, but he was not the reason for this win. The Eagles front seven was absolutely dominating through the first three quarters. Fletcher Cox was an animal and Connor Barwin turned in several big plays in easily his best game as an Eagle. Griffin stood absolutely no chance once again, and is easily one of the least protected quarterbacks n the league, as a runner and a passer. Two late big plays made this game interesting in garbage time, but that is about all the Redskins have done in what has quickly become a lost season. 

Matchup to Watch: Riley Cooper vs. Redskins cornerbacks

• Cooper did not throw up the big numbers we have seen in the past few weeks. Foles spread the ball around the tight ends and the running backs much more than he had in his past starts this season. The Redskins secondary took some of the worst angles to the football imaginable in this game. Five Eagle pass catchers took plays for over twenty yards, and big plays were plentiful. 
  

Oakland Raiders- 28 at Houston Texans- 23
Reviewing the Game:

• Undrafted rookie Matt McGloin turned in a pretty solid debut and showed a more live arm than expected. The Texans defense looked pretty frustrated with how their season has been going, and similar to their blowout loss to the Rams, seemed to have packed it in. Rashad Jennings was able to run all over them, and Jonathan Joseph was beat by much lesser players than himself in coverage. The Texans strangely benched Case Keenum in the second half, in a move that made about zero sense. Keenum was in the midst of his worst outing to date, but it was not like he was a hot mess or anything. With the Texans already firmly out of the playoff race what was the point of having Matt Schuab coming back into the game? The fans did not want to see him back there, he offered nothing to the offense, and even Andre Johnson finished off the day by screaming at the former starting quarterback. Bad coaching move Houston. 

Matchup to Watch: Lamarr Houston vs. Duane Brown

• Lamarr Houston turned in another fine effort against the Texans offensive line. Houston collected a sack and was pretty disruptive throughout the game. his presence certainly rattled Case Keenum in the first half. 
  

Arizona Cardinals- 27 at Jacksonville Jaguars- 14
Reviewing the Game:

• Carson Palmer partied like it was 2005 in a 400-yard effort in which he was able to sit pretty comfortably in the pocket for the first time all season. Michael Floyd had the best statistical day of his career, including a 91-yard sprint to the end zone. The Jaguars predictably struggled to move the ball against a tough Cardinals defense, with their offensive line being especially overwhelmed. The Cardinals get a business like win, and remain right in the thick of the NFC playoff race.

Matchup to Watch: Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Cardinals front seven

• It was the same old, same old for Maurice Jones-Drew. Finding little to no running room, and lacking the juice to create anything on his own, MJD put up another pedestrian stat line; averaging a meager two yards per touch. 
  

Detroit Lions- 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers- 37
Reviewing the Game:

• These two teams traded punches for most of the first half, with the Lions and Megatron completely owning the second quarter. The Lions really choked away the game in the second half, getting completely shut out on offense, completely unable to stop anything on defense, and losing the ball on a strange fake field goal to cap it all off. This is the type of loss the Lions put up every once and awhile that makes you wonder if they really are a legitimate contender. They had the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the NFC North and they came up way short against an inferior team. As for Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger probably needs to give a nice thank you not to Antonio Brown, whose yards after catch and great hands beefed up his quarterback’s stats. It is insane with how bad they have played, but Pittsburgh still has life. 

Matchup to Watch: Ndamukong Suh vs. Fernando Velasco

• The Lions defense did a really nice job of shutting down the Steelers running game, and was able to put some pressure on the quarterback, but that pressure seemed to evaporate late in the game. Suh’s presence was felt, but he turned in a blank stat sheet. Stats do not mean everything, but it would have been nice to see a big play from Suh in the crucial moments of this game. 
  

Atlanta Falcons- 28 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers- 41
Reviewing the Game:

• The Falcons scored six points when this game was actually in question, actually scratch that; this game was never in question. The Bucs were clearly the better team from the start and they did whatever they wanted all afternoon. Bobby Rainey ripped off long runs at will against this defense and Mike Glennon threw only three incompletions all day. We actually saw Dominique Davis take snaps for the Falcons in a regular season divisional game; it has come to that for this team. 

Matchup to Watch: Darrelle Revis vs. Roddy White

• White and Harry Douglas both did next to nothing when it matter, but both racked up plenty of garbage time fantasy points, if you are into that sort of thing.
  

San Diego Chargers- 16 at Miami Dolphins- 20
Reviewing the Game:

• The two quarterbacks had almost identical numbers at the conclusion of this game, and both faced a good amount of pressure. The difference in this game was the red zone defense of the Dolphins. Rarely are things that simple in football, was too often San Diego just held to field goals, where Miami was able to punch it in for six. In a rather boring game, the Dolphins were able to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a win, while the Chargers look to have lost all the momentum they gained with an upset of the Colts several weeks ago. 

Matchup to Watch: Cameron Wake vs. King Dunlap

• King Dunlap did not play in this game, and Cameron Wake subsequently dominated. Wake got consistent pressure all night, and made some drive killing stops in the run game. when the Chargers began to pay him extra attention, it only freed things up for the other talented Miami defensive linemen. 
  

San Francisco 49ers- 20 at New Orleans Saints- 23
Reviewing the Game:

• The score was close, but New Orleans was clearly the better team on that field today. The 49ers offense benefitted from a short field on their two touchdown drives when Lance Moore muffed a punt and Drew Brees threw a really ugly interception. Outside of those two instances the 49ers “slam Frank Gore into the line” offense never strung together a drive into the end zone. In addition to those two turnovers, the 49ers also got lucky when Corey White fumbled the ball out of the end zone before scoring after snagging a Colin Kaepernick interception, one that everyone would have slaughtered Andy Dalton for throwing by the way. The 49ers defense made several key stops and big plays, but they once again go no help from their offense. The Saints need to play cleaner games against opponents who can actually outscore them, but you just knew Brees was going to take them on a game winning drive when he got the ball back late in the fourth quarter. 

Matchup to Watch: Cameron Jordan vs. Alex Boone

• Cameron Jordan was a man in this game, and along with a former attendee of my old elementary school, Ahmad Brooks, was the best defensive player on the field. Jordan darted around the heavy-footed 49ers offensive line, and put on a display of great quickness for his size. He had consistent pressure all day long, and kept pace with the speedy Kaepernick in the backfield. 
  

Green Bay Packers- 27 at New York Giants- 13
Reviewing the Game:

• Scott Tolzien’s three interceptions were probably the difference in this game. He moved the offense at times during the game, but turnovers at inopportune times gave the Giants life. It is a legitimate question whether the Packers turn this thing over to Matt Flynn next season. The Giants still are not playing great, but they are finding ways to win on the back of their defense. 

Matchup to Watch: Packers defensive line vs. Giants offensive line

• The Packers big men did a pretty decent job limiting Andre Brown to any big runs, but the Giants wisely kept feeding their starting running back with carries. Despite a low yard per carry average, Andre Brown clearly makes this offense so much better. 
  

Minnesota Vikings- 20 at Seattle Seahawks- 41
Reviewing the Game:

• This was just as ugly as expected. Christian Ponder turned back into a pumpkin, so to speak, Marshawn Lynch grinded out tough yards, and Russell Wilson hit a number of big plays in the passing game. Percy Harvin was able to have a nice impact in his limited snaps, a sick one handed catch and showing off his speed on a big kick off return. Things should only get better as he gets healthier. The pass protection was also back to form with Russell Okung back in the lineup. 

Matchup to Watch: Adrian Peterson vs. Seahawks front seven

• There’s the Seahawks run defense we used to know. Adrian Peterson was limited in this game even though he got plenty of touches. 
  

Kansas City Chiefs- 17 at Denver Broncos- 27
Reviewing the Game:

• Here is what people who were not paying attention to the game will tell you: Alex Smith was not good enough to win, and the Chiefs pass rush was stifled. Here is what really happened. Alex Smith was let down on several occasions with drops by his insufficient supporting cast, but made some terrific, high degree of difficulty throws. The biggest issue Smith had in this game was that he made several poor decisions in the pocket and did not stand tall in the face of pressure, which the Broncos brought in waves. As for the pressure on Peyton, it is pretty hard to get pressure on a guy who is consistently getting rid of the football in reportedly less than three seconds. It is not like Justin Houston and Tamba Hali were held up; they just never had the time to get home. If the Chiefs can clean up some of the mistakes, they can absolutely beat the Broncos in two weeks at home. The Broncos defense was great for most of the night, getting pressue on Alex Smith and swarming to the football. The most encouraging aspect of the game for the Broncos had to be the improvement of their ground attack. Montee Ball looked pretty good and punched in two touchdowns when the team got into the red zone. The Chiefs have to hope they can score just a few more points and hit a few more big plays on defense next time they see the Broncos. 

Matchup to Watch: Chiefs cornerbacks vs. Broncos receivers

• This matchup was about all it was cracked up to be. The Brandon Flowers-Wes Welker matchup was pretty much a push, with both players winning at different points of the game, while Sean Smith did not see many targets go his way. It was standout rookie, Marcus Cooper, who was picked on pretty regularly by Peyton Manning. It will be interesting to see if Cooper’s baptism by fire will help him be better prepared next time these two teams meet.

Monday Night Game:

New England Patriots- 20 at Carolina Panthers- 24
Reviewing the Game:

• Cam Newton arrived last night. After putting up some big numbers, but rarely ever playing winning or clutch football in his first two seasons, we finally witnessed Cam arrive as a great player in this league on the Monday Night Football stage. The stakes could not have been higher for a middle of the regular season game, and Newton was simply fantastic. Cam led his team on two beautifully engineered touchdown drives in the second half and one in the final five minutes that allowed Carolina to take the league. Mix in some of the most Houdini-like scrambles you will ever see, and it was Cam at his absolute best. The Panthers defense was a bit of a disappointment, as the Patriots not only attacked their weaker secondary, but also were surprisingly effective running the ball against them. From a team perspective, it is good for the Panthers to know both sides of the ball can bail each other out. Tom Brady stood tall and played well in the face of the fierce Panthers pass rush and worked the ball to Gronk, and the newly activated Shane Vereen, who quickly reprised his role as the dynamic pass catching back in this offense. The Patriots did enough to win, but they just were not the better team on this day. Now about the call, look, if you want to you can blame any loss or win on the officials, and to do so is both weak, lazy, and unprofessional in my opinion. This was a fantastic game between two great teams, and to make it all about one call at the end of the game is asinine. Brady made a poor throw into the end zone on the final play, and Carolina’s undrafted rookie safety, Robert Lester intercepted it. Of course, Luke Kuechly is mugging Rob Gronkowski, the intended target, several yards away, but by the letter of the law, that ball is uncatchable and pass interference should not have been called. The officials were correct to pick up the flag. This is not the “Fail Mary”. No points were added or subtracted based on that call. If the call had been made the Patriots would have had the ball on the one-yard line with one last chance to score, but assuming the result of that play would be purely speculative. That is my take, and my opinion on the matter. You want to win the game? Don’t let it come down to having the results hinge on one play like that. More often than not in football, the team that plays better for sixty minutes wins. That is exactly what transpired last night for the Carolina Panthers.  

Matchup to Watch: Jonathan Stewart vs. the Patriots front seven

• The Patriots run defense was quietly very impressive last night. The Panthers running backs averaged a meager 2.6 yards per carry, and none had a run longer than seven yards. Isaac Sopoaga played a high percentage of snaps against this run heavy team, and his addition has been a clear upgrade for the Patriots in the middle of their defense. Cam Newton was able to pick up the slack for his running backs, especially with several timely scrambles to pick up first downs. However, what can be gathered from this game is that the Patriots may not be so soft up the middle as they used to be.

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